By MAYA NTANDA -
COPPERBELT University (CBU) management has dismissed reports that it has allegedly stopped some students from registering for examinations scheduled for next week.
CBU registrar Allan Ilunga said the university had not unilaterally barred some students from registering for the examinations which commenced last week and those scheduled for January 20 this year for distance, part-time and full-time studies.
Mr Ilunga said in a statement that at the start of each academic year, students were required to pay at least 75 per cent of fees.
He said this academic year, the university went out of its way to allow students in full-time and distance mode of studies to pay between 25 and 50 per cent of the fees.
Mr Ilunga said the students were expected to settle the remainder of the fees by the time of examination registration, which was a period of about eight months.
“It is important to note that the university, like any other, depends on fees paid by students to run its operations including procurement of examination materials.
“Despite this, management has allowed those who have paid at least 75 per cent and have done course registration to register for examinations,” reads part of the statement.
Mr Ilunga said management had gone beyond the provisions of its policies regarding payment of fees by extending deadlines twice and by allowing students who had not completed payments to register for the examinations.
He said the university had since extended the deadline for examination registration to January 19 this year for students who had made full payments, a minimum of 75 per cent or owe less than K1,500 of the total fees.
And Copperbelt University Students Union president Kinsley Chinyama welcomed management’s decision and encouraged students to embrace the rules and regulations of the university.

By JUDITH NAMUTOWE -
THE Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) has said the feasibility study on the Batoka Hydropower Station has been reviewed.
ZRA chief executive officer Munyaradzi Munodawafa said in an interview yesterday that the review on the demo structure, power house and capacity output on the project had been completed.
Mr Munodawafa said the authority was currently waiting for the second phase of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
‘‘We have reviewed the Batoka Hydropower Station feasibility study. The study on the demo structure, power house structure and the capacity output on the project has been completed,’’ Mr Munodawafa said.
He said the finalisation of the study and the EIA was expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2015.
Mr Munodawfa said consultants were currently working on other processes and thereafter the project committee which include senior Government officials , utilities and ZRA would visit the project this month.
He said once all these processes were completed, ZRA would then be able to select the developer for the project, after which the authority would be able to come up with the actual value of the project.
Zambia and Zimbabwe signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to team up and start the Batoka hydropower project which is estimated to cost about US$4 billion.
The agreement was signed during the council of ministers held at Kariba in Siavonga recently.